Sweden: Seminar at the Swedish Parliament

Can the Beijing Olympics improve human rights in China?

By a Swedish practitioner

31 October 2007

On October 11th, 2007 a seminar entitled "Can the Beijing Olympics improve human rights in China?" was held at the Swedish parliament. More than fifty senators, human rights organisations and China specialists attended the seminar. The distinguished Canadian lawyer David Matas, Mr. Man Yang Wu, a council member of the Human Rights International Association; Mr. Mai Ping Chan, the creator of China Independent Writers Association, and Emma Sjostrom, the representative of the Swedish International Plenary Indulgence were invited to give speeches.

Left to right: Mai Ping Chan, David Matas, Man Yang Wu, Emma Sjostrom

The seminar was well attended

Emma Sjostrom pointed out that China has been nominated to hold the 2008 Olympic Games. Not only economic improvement but also the whole picture of human rights improvement should be taken into consideration. When China applied for sponsorship to hold the Olympic Games in 2001, representatives of the Chinese government promised to improve China’s human rights and all the countries in the world are also expecting that the Beijing authority could be asked to amend the situation of human rights through the Olympic Games. As six years has passed away, there is no notable evidence that the situation is being turned the right way, such as: labour camps; executions; depriving the lawyer’s rights in upholding justice; putting outspoken writers and journalists into prison; prosecution of different belief groups; blocking the internet and so and so. If it could not assist to improve China’s human rights, then the 2008 Olympic Games will be a failure.

The Olympic Game has not started, but the dispute between the dictator and people to strive after freedom is on the way. During this August, Beijing lit up the torch so as to emblazon forth its strength and instigate the nationalism of China. The human rights organisation also emblazed the “Human Right Holy Torch” in Athens, and the purpose is to hope that China will not hold the Olympic Game and call on the international society focusing on the human right situation in China. The China Communist Party (CCP) takes the Olympic Game as a publicising tool to air the victory of nationality whenever wining the gold medal. The flag of China Communist Party means that the big star on behalf of the party controls the small stars representing the people from different nationalities in China. The rising of bloody flags is regarded as victory by the autocracy.

Man Yang, a trading specialist with more than twenty years experience who acts as part time council member of International Human Rights Association gave his speech: The CCP deployed the process of so-called reforming and then enabled its people to work for earnings after experiencing the Cultural Revolution. This is another measure of running the process to gain absolute power rather than correcting its mistakes. In the first thirty years, the Party systematically took over the dominance of the economy and culture owned by previous enterprise and culture groups through the process of nationalisation and countless political movements. Till 1978, the Party had basically transferred all the controlling power to the economy and culture into its own hands; now the most fortune created by hard working from Chinese people would finally be achieved by the Party leaders and their relatives or their supporters.

The CCP is the national terrorist; its common measures are violence, persecution and disseminating animosity. In the past, they spread the enmity to Capitalists, now they spread the enmity to Falun Gong. The CCP started in 1920 with terrorism and gained power through violence and lies. After it governed China in 1949, it still resorted to the violence and lies, and totally ignored the dignity and human rights of human being. The CCP persecuted the land owners, Tibetans, Christians, the intelligentsia; democrats and carried on persecuting Falun Gong and the fact is clearly indicating that the CCP has not changed its essence. In 2001 it promised to improve the human rights record to the Olympic Game Committee; but the Tao Shi case and arresting Zhi Shen Gao shows that there is no freedom and justice in China.

Mr. David Matas, the Canadian Lawyer, and the author of book “Bloody Harvest” stated: David Kilgour and I made an investigation, with the conclusion that there are a lot of cases of organ harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China. Without the prior approval of the death criminal, the CCP harvests their organs. Falun Gong are being slandered by the CCP; along with the measures anti human nature; being forced to lose normal minds; being marginalised, then the numbers of practitioners in prison are even more than the criminals who are sentenced to the death penalty.

David Matas listed thirty three different evidential aspects and declared: “The Chinese government had made an un-persuasive response to our first time investigation results; especially their responses were focusing on attacking Falun Gong. In fact, even though the Chinese government has grasped all the resources and information available for its free usage, which we don’t have, but they still could not disprove the integrity of our reporter’s conclusion. We publicised the first version of the report in June 2006 and released the second version in January 2007. I’m now keeping visiting the politicians of different countries, with the hope that the world could wake up and focus on to stop this bloody crime. The CCP just treated the Olympic Game as what the Nazis did.”

The spokeswoman, Biggita Ohlson, from the Swedish People Party’s foreign affairs chaired the seminar. She addressed: “The 1936 Olympic Game was actually utilised by Hitler, the Nazi dictator organised the 11th Olympic Game and it empowered Hitler to carry on terrorism and weaponry expanding without scruple and triggered the 2nd world war, then bringing the miserable disaster to the people in the world. This was the shame in the Olympic Games history and the Olympic Game Committee made an apology in 1954 with regard to this issue. In 2001, the Olympic Games Committee passed the sponsorship of hosting the Olympic Game to the CCP dictator and this is a true regret.

During the free Questions & Answers schedule, all participants agreed that it’s vital to openly criticise the human rights situation of the CCP. With regard to the protesting organised by the Plenary Indulgence at 13th and the gathering to welcome Human Rights Holy Fire sponsored by a few human right organisations at 14th, the seminar attendees took a positive attitude and expressed that they would keep the eyes on the follow up issues.